Multiple people were wounded Wednesday when an explosive device hit an international ceremony commemorating the end of World War I.
The event was being held at a cemetery in the Saudi city of Jeddah, according to French government officials.
Several countries had representatives at the ceremony, held at a cemetery for dead non-Muslims, the officials from the French Foreign Ministry said.
The identities of the victims were unclear.
Saudi state television broadcast from outside the cemetery and acknowledged that an attack involving an explosive device took place.
However it stressed that things were under control and the security situation was now "stable."
The report said an official statement about the cause and casualty details was upcoming.
The stabbing was carried out by a Saudi man, who was arrested. His motives remain unclear.
France has suffered two deadly attacks by foreign-born Muslims in the past month alone.
A teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside Paris for showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class for a debate on free expression. Three people were later killed in a church in the southern city of Nice.
The depictions of the prophet sparked protests, leading to calls for boycotts of French products among some Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia.
France has urged its citizens in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority countries to be "on maximum alert" amid the heightened tensions.
Wednesday marks the 102nd anniversary of the armistice ending World War I and is commemorated in several European countries.
The French officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, condemned the attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion and Saudi officials have not commented on the attack.
